Apparatus for serving tube finishing machines



Aug. 9, 1932- v o. M. MOWAT APPARATUS FOR SERVING TUBE FINISHING MACHINES Filed Aug. 31, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 l k lL WITNESSE'S Aug. 9, 1932. o. M. MOWAT APPARATUS FOR SERVING TUBE FINISHING MACHINES Filed Aug. 31, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 3 m v\ N 8 mm B N 8 w w m Q PM- & 3 mm mm g Q mm Rm *9 f\ E @fi Q Q (i m NMWN WITNESSES I 0. M. MOWAT APPARATUS FOR SERVING TUBE FINISHING MACHINES Filed Aug. 31, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 M m V (Mm fi WITNESSES:

agww Patented Aug. 9, 1932 UNITED sr OLIVER MPMOWAT, OF YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO APPARATUS FOR SERVING TUBE FINISHING MACHINES Application filed August 31,1929. Serial No. 389,733.

various kinds of finishing machines, and, as :3 1n the manufacture of other articles, 1t 1s desirable to reduce to a minimum the labor necessary for such handlingand manipula tion so as to increase production toa maximum vand at the same time lowerthe cost of manufacture as much as possible, all of which is dependent to a large extent upon the efficiency of the apparatus employed for such purposes. V

The primary object of this invention generally stated is to provide simple,'efficient and economically operable tube handling apparatus for serving a plurality of tubes simultaneously into a'plurality of end finishing machines and for doing so in such a way as to s increase the speed of production of the machines, at the same time reduce the manual labor necessary to their operation, and thereby lower the cost of manufacture of the tubes.

, A more special object is to provide a machine of the above character which is adapted to move a plurality of tubes laterally in spaced parallel relation with each other into registration with a plurality of end finishing machines, and then simultaneously feed them endwise intothe machines, and, after they have been operated upon, carry them therefrom, the apparatus being also adapted to permit finished tubes to be discharged from and unfinished tubes to'be loaded on it while the finishing machines areoperating upon tubes previously fed to them.

These and other objects, as well as the novel features and advantages of the invention, will become more apparent when the following detailed description isread in conjuncnarrower than framesl and is equipped 'at' tion with the accompanying drawings, of i which Fig. 1 is a plan view of an apparatus for serving a plurality of unfinished tubes to and discharging them from a plurality of finishing machines, the apparatus being con- 55 structed in accordance with this invention; Fig. '2 aside viewand Fig. 3 an endview of the same; Fig. 4 an elevation to enlarged scale of a pipesupporting rest showing the way it is mounted; Fig. 5 a detail sectional 60 view on the line VV 'of Fig.1 1; Fig. 6 a side view and Fig. 7 a front .view of aguide positioned adjacent the serving end of a movable tube-supporting rack; Figs. 8 to,

13 plan views'showing different positions c5 of the tubesupportingrack' with respect to the finishing machines during a cycle of operation; and Figs 8a to 13a endviews corre-- sponding with Figs. 8 to 13, respectively;

Referring now. to the drawings wherein the -7 invention is illustrated in connection with a tube'serving apparatus for feeding a plurality of tubes into a plurality of end finishing machines, 1 designates generally a main sup. porting or base frame for the apparatus made up of transverse and longitudinal cross and .side'members 2 and '3, respectively. To facilitate moving this frame back and forth in a sidewise or lateral fashion. it is equipped at the opp'ositeends of its cross members 2.wi th e0 track wheels 4, that rest upon rails 5, and to produce such movements mechanically, a mechanically; operated pusher rod 6 is attached at 7 to the center of one longitudinal side frame member 3. Although not shown, 8 this pusher rod may be actuated in any convenient manner, as by a rack and pinion, a hydraulically-operated device or other means of a well known construct-ion capable of producing the desired movements, and to posi- "9 tivelylimit'the sidewise movements of frame 1 in either. direction, blocks 8 may bemounted at the ends or other pointsalong the length of the tracks.

On top of base frame l there movably mounted a tube-supporting rack 9 formed of a pair of longitudinal. side and transverse cross members 10and 11, respectively. This rack is preferablymade somewhat shorter and 100 the ends of side members 10 with wheels 12 which move upon rails 13 secured to the tops of the cross members 2 of frame 1. For mechani'cally effecting the endwise movement of rack 9, a hydraulic or other fluid pressure cylinder 14 is secured to the front and center transverse member 2 of frame 1, as shown in Figs. 1 and-3. "In this cylinder there isprovided the usual piston, not illustrated, which is connected by means of a rod 15 -to the center of the rear cross member 11 of rack 9. Hence, in accordance with the control of the hydraulic pressure in cylinder 14-, rack 9 may be'moved toward or froma'finishing machine in the ,front ofthe serving apparatus.

In order to holdthe tubes inspaced paraL lel relation with each other on top of rack 9 to pro erly guide them'into'finishing chines located in front ofthe rack, such for example as the threading machines 161? shown inFigs. 8 to 18, there are provided a plurality oftube'r'ests lsjhaving' receiving openings 19 in their to s. These are arranged at the front and back end's'iiof the rack and spaced 'frome'ach other a distance equal to that betweenthe centers of iiiachines-lti and 17 and arejmeumea for vertical movements so that the apparatus 'canbeused for 'difien .ntffsize tubes, and'alsol SQ that'the rests can be lo'wereclbelow thejtiibes tofallow rack 9 tone moved while t bes are bein erated uponby the finishing machines; For effecting simultaneously vertical movements of all ofv rests 1'8 ateaehe'nd of the rack, they are all rigidly secured between a pair ot channels 21 mounted for vertical movement in end crossmembers 11. As illustratedmore particularly in Figs. 5, the'transve'rse or cross members 11 of rack 9 comprise apair of spaced channelsj22, and between them channels 21 are arranged, the latter beingsut- 7 case.

fieientl smaller'than the space between 'ch annels 22 to permit them to move therein with For raising and lowering rest-supportingmembers 21, legs 23 (Figs. 4 and are secured between channels 21 near the opposit'e ends thereof and extended below the sur 'fa e of cross members 11 where they are rested upon the laterally movable wedges 24 that in turn are supported in U-shape'd straps attached to the bottoms of cross member '11, the bottoms of the legs being tapered at 'clined portions of the wedges. In order to move'these wedges laterally with respect to legs 23 so as to raise and lower the rests as desired, they are each "connected to 'a suitable hydraulic or equivalent apparatus similarto that employed in connection with the movevment of the rack 9, each apparatus comprisraga cylinder 27 (Fig. in which the usual piston is arranged, and a piston rod 28 con- .nectin'g the piston with the wedge. Hence, ty varying the pressure in th cylinders the wedges may be forced forwardly to raise the 'tubesin registration with the finishing machines. V I V In order to facilitate the arrangement or positioning'of the tubes on'rack' 9 in such a way that they will all enter the finishing machines correctly when the rackiis moved into its feeding position, a guidebar 3% supported on legs 35 is provided, see Figs. 6 and 7; This guide, as illustrated more partictilarly in Figs. 8 to 13, is arranged in front of rack'9 on the side of the finishing machines from which the tubes are fed and is'positi'oned in alignment with the cutting tools of the finishing machines. Consequently through its use the tubes beingworked upon may be accurately-arranged upon rack 9 for entrance the tubes are finished WVhen tubesmarked in this manner, buthot "cut are being hairdle'd by the apparatua'guide bar 34; is preferablyposit onedbelow the bottoms of the tubes restedpn the mien-see Figaibut when smooth ended or tubes from which the scrap ends have previously been removed are being handl'edit may be raised so that the-tubes will abut against it as thera ckis moved forward.

As will be readily appreciated bythose skilled in the art, thexoperation of the by draulic devices iorinoving various parts of the apparatus, as explained above, may be 'efiected in numerous ways, either by manually or automatically controlled vaives, whereby the movements -may be selectively produced in the manner to be described hereinafter in connection with the explanation of the operation of the apparatus, but because the control or these elements in a particular forms no part of this invention, and befcause such control 'mechanism" is so well known in the .artyit is deemed 'unnecessary to illustrate and describe'i-t. 1 The operation of the apparatus will now be explained in conjunction with Ste 13 and 8a to 13a, inclusive, wherein iti's illustrated. as being employed for serving two tubes simultaneously into a pair dread finishing devices, schematically shown as threadingjma'ch ines: 1 6 and 17. Figs 8a to 13a are elevations of the apparatus shown in Figs 8 to 13, looking-toward the threading machines which are stationary. To begin the operation, base'frame 1 is moved so that the two forward tube rests 18 on rack 9 are in alignment with machines 16 and 17, and rack 9 is moved back from these machines so that tubes can be loaded thereon without fouling them, as shown in Fig. 8. On the initial loading, tubes 36, 37, 38 and 39 are arranged on rests 18 on the raclr with tubes 36 and 37 correctly positioned for engagement by the threading machines. Wedges 24 are then set to properly center the tubes horizontally for entrance into the machines. Thereafter, the

- piston in cylinder 14 is operated to move rack 9 to the position shown in Fig. 9, feeding tubes 36 and 3? simultaneously into machines 16 and 17. While the threads are being cut on these tubes, the ends of tubes 38 and 39 are lined up with guide3 i for subsequent entrance into the threading machine. After the ends of tubes 36 and 3'? have been j finished, rack 9 is moved back to its original rests 1.8 below the top of rack 9, as indicated.

in Fig. 11a. With the rests thus lowered, tubes 36 and are moved ofi'rack'S onto racks 41 positioned forwardly of-rack 9, as

seen in Figs. 10 and 11, from whence they may be conveyed to another set of finishing machines to have their other ends threaded or otherwi e operated upon. With rests '18 still lowered so thatthey will not'foul tubes 38 and 39 which are engaged by the threading machines, base frame 1 is returned to its initial position, carrying rack 9 to the position shown-in Fig. 12. Rests 13 are then raised again, as shown in Fig. 13a, rendering the apparatus ready to repeat the cycle of operation, which is initiated by placing new tubes 42 and 43 on the rests 18 at the rear of rack 9, .and lining them up with guide 3 1 for en trance in the threading machines while tubes 38 and 39 are being finished.

WVhile the serving apparatus illustrated is shown in connection with only two finishing machines, it will be readily appreciated that the number of finishing machines is not so limited, but may be one or any number, dependingupon the speed of production desired. The operation of the serving and finishing machines may be effected automatically by well known hydraulic, electric or other means, so that each operation will be timed in the proper order to automatically produce cycles of operation in the manner described.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, 1 haveexplained the principle and rack adapted for feeding tubes in an endwise fashion into and discharging them from said machine, said rack being provided atit-s opposite ends with vertically movable tube rests which engage the tubes carried upon the rack, and means for raising said rests to center the tubes in the finishing machine and for'lowering them out of engagement'with the tubeswhen such are engaged in the finishing machine to permit lateral movement of the rack and frame for reloading and unloading the rack without interrupting-the --continu'ous operation of the finishing machine.

2. In combination with a tube finishing machine of apparatus for serving tubes to and removing them from sald machlne, said apparatus comprislng a rack movablelongitudinally andtransversely with respect to the axis of said machine for feeding tubes endwise intoanld discharging them from the machine, saidrack being provided at its opposite ends with vertically movable tube rests for holding the tubes in placeon said rack, movable wedge shaped supports being mount ed below' said rack for vertically supporting said rests, and means for moving said wedges to raise or lower said rests to center the tubes 1n the finishing machine and for lowering them out of engagement with the tubes when such areengaged in thefinishing machine therebypermitting lateral movement of the rack and frame for reloading and unloading the rack without interrupting the continuous operation of the finishing machine.

3. In combination with a plurality of adjacent tube finishing machines of apparatus for serving a pluralityof tubes to and discharging them from said machines,'said apparatus including a longitudinally movable tube supporting rack adapted for moving the tubes endwise into and away from said machines, a plurality of tube rests disposedat the opposite ends of said rack for holding the tubes in spaced parallel relation thereon, said rests being rigidly secured to cross members mounted for vertical movement in the opposite ends of the rack, a plurality of wedge shaped supports mounted beneath and engaging the opposite end of said cross member, and means for moving said supports to center tubes of different size-supporteclon the rack in the finishing machines.

4. In combination with a plurality of ad- V j acent tube finishing machines of apparatus positioned in front of the machines for simultaneously moving a plurality of tubes'laterally into feeding alignment therewitl1,endwise thereinto and therefrom and then laterally therefrom, said apparatus comprising 1 a base frame adapted forjlateral movement and having means attached thereto for mechanically moving itin opposite directions, a tube supporting rack mounted for endwise movementon said base frame, mechanically operable means connected'between said rack and said frame for moving said rack toward and away from said machines a. preselected distance, means .on top of said rack forholding a plurality of tubes in spacedparallel relation thereon, and means-for raisingsaidw last mentioned means to center the tubes as they are fed into said machines, and for lowering them to permit the rack to be moved laterally under the tubes supported theron when, engaged. by the finishing machines without disturbing the tubes, thereby facilitating the unloading and reloading of the tube rack. v

5. In combination with a tube finishing machine, ofapparatus-for serving tubes to g and removing them from said machines, said apparatus comprising a laterally movable base frame,a tube-supporting rack mounted for endwise movement upon said base frame,

a plurality 'of disappearing tube-engaging rests mountedon saidrack to centerthe tubes in the. finishing machine, a: guide disposed in front of said rack and frame'for use in aligning the'tubes in proper position on the rack, means for raising and lowering said rests from a pomt belowto a point above said rack and back again and means for moving'both the base frame and thetube-supporting rack in opposite directionsto move tubes supported by said rack laterally into alignment with said guide and finishing machine,

then endwise to and from said machine and then laterally therefrom,

In testimony whereof, I sign my name.

' OLIVER M. MOVVAT. 

